MacGyver Your Way to Save Water // Earth Day

On being MacGyver while growing up in SoCal during the 80s/90s drought.

As a child growing up during the 80s/90s drought in Southern California, I remember my family and I would go the extremes to save water and then share our tips with our neighbors. We basically coined #watersavinghacks before hashtags were a thing. We’d MacGyver (or MacGruber) our own low-flow toilet by placing a couple filled water bottles in the water tank so it’d take less water to fill it. We’d also use the cleanly rinsed vegetable water collected in the sink bucket to water the backyard plants.

My parents instilled in me the importance of protecting our environment. Now that I’m a grown adult and married with our own place, Wayne and I take being water wise to heart. SoCal has been facing intense drought the past several years and although we recently had a blessed wet winter, we still need to continue our water-conserving efforts.

Here we share some easy ways to save water // #WaterSavingHacks

Turn off the faucet while brushing teeth.

This is a simple tip, yet there are some who forget this is an option. Turning off the water faucet while brushing your teeth saves 200 gallons per month. Same goes for turning the water off while you’re washing your hands and face with soap. Tip: Place a “save water–turn it off during the in-betweens” reminder note on your mirror when you wash your face and brush your teeth.

If your shower takes a while to get warm…

If your shower is anything like ours, it takes a few minutes for warm water to come out. To avoid running the shower and wasting clean water, we have a bucket in the shower to catch all the clean water and save it to water the plants and fill the humidifier. We also turn on the dishwasher or washing machine a few minutes before showering. Yes, we try to time washing a full load of dishes or laundry around our shower times. That way our shower gets warm within seconds once we turn it on.

Take shorter showers; 4-minute showers to be exact.

Did you know you save 5,840 gallons of water per year by taking 4-minute showers instead of 10-minute showers? This is totally doable for those with short hair–AND with those with long hair–like me. See our next tip.

wash your hair every other day = shorter shower times.

Your hairdresser will vouch for this tip to keep your strands healthy. Not washing your hair doesn’t serve as an excuse to skip the shower and be a grub. Just wear a shower cap, or for those with long hair like me, tie it in a high bun and then take your 4-minute shower. The times I don’t wash my hair, I am in and out of the shower in 2-3 minutes. My skincare regimen takes longer than my shower.

Turn off the shower in between shampoo, conditioner & other stuff.

This is similar to the turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth tip but on a larger scale. It’s become a habit to turn off the water in between shampooing and conditioning–especially during those 5-minute hair masks. Tip: I use that time to wash my body with soap, do my own version of the Korean spa scrub, or shave.

In honor of Earth Day (April 22) share these tips with friends and family members. Hope these tips inspire you to try some of our #WaterSavingHacks in your home! Do you do these too? Share with us what tips you do to help conserve water.